The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-12-02

IS hairs on q dogs back. lie want
ID TO know how to make hay of it.
gave him the necessary directions.
ind heard no more Of him or the
lav until the next January, when
was passing in front Of a provision
store and my attention was attract
d to some bales Of particularly fine
hay. Upon inquiry | found that it
was made by my enterprisIng young
farmer. and that he had seld Seven
hundred dollars worth of it, at TWEEN
" dollars per ton. Now, [ don't /
know how many acres there were in (
that field, but do know that seven
hundred dcllars was all clear profit
except not 10 exceed fifty dollars tor
ex pense OF cutting and laying.
But | can giyey you some closer
ligures than that. This last season
a young farmer living near Ameri~
Gus had an old field Of FIVE acres,
upon which the crab grass came up
after the oats were cut OFF, and off
81 these five acres he cut and cured
fifteen tons of as pretty hay as ever
went into a barn, and ii did not cost
him one cent, Tor another young
farmer made it for him for the use
Of his mower ana rake, lie can
get S15 per ton for that hay now,
and by January he can get $50.
Three hundred dollars clear profit off
Of five acres, 10 say nothing of the
oats, S what call a pretty fair
profit on land that the owner would
be glad to sell for $50 per acre.
1t is fair to say that both of the
above mentioned fields were rich in
soil and had been we'll cultivated,
bnl the extra yield of oats more than
paid Tor the extra fertilization and
care.
So much for what Georgia can do
and has done 10 raising hay. Now,
let US compare it with Ohio's record
remembering that Ohio is q great
grass and hay state.
Last june 1 visited Ohio. and OF
all that [ saw there was only one
thing that made me envious, and
that was the green grass which grew
go luxuriantly a nd covered the lev
ell fields At that season the red
clover was In bloom. and L defy
even the most ardent grass-hating
cotton planter to look over twenr
ty-acre field, the rich dark green
fO,iage enlivsned with The purplish.
red blooms, without feeling 0!
admiration; and this admiration
would be heightened by the group
Of sleek, fat cattle, resting under
tbs shade Ot tree and lazIlY chew
ing their cuds, perfect pictur Of
peace and plenty. Close by is a
field Of timothy, its plumed heads
enveloped in a misty bloom and
gracefully bending before the breeze.
When the mower enters these fields
and leaves in lis wake long lines of
green pillows, to De rolled over and
over by the rake into wInnows OF
sweet-scented hay, there arises the
most delicate and exhilarating of al
perfumes. The poet and painter
/ long made meadows and hay max :
ing the theme of their song and can
vass, aud | cannot hope to add to
the beauty Of their graphic descrip"
llOn,
But there is a practical as well as
pOetical side to this view. aud it is
Of this l propose 10 write. 1t Is
z Teen grass, these beautiful mead
ows, that have given to Ohio farms
a world wide reputation and made
ONO farmers rich, aud 1t is little
wonder then, that Ohio farmers re
gard grass as necessary to Successful
farming. But Ohio farms were no
always thus. l have seen the time
when they were rs barren of verdurs
as Georgia cotton field IN NoYem
ner. AlIer the early settlers o. OhIC
had exhausted ths virgin soil BY
constant cropping, shallow cultiva'
ton and failure to return anything
to the SOIL Gas Georgia farmers ar,
GOlng), their SUCCESSORS fOunu that il
was Necessary to do something to re
store the fertility OF the land or aban
don their occupation. Many fiel Il
mad been turned out as uhproiita-
ble tor cultivation. These field
grew up III grass and weeds, aud a
the country settled up they wer,
taken in and found 20 have in :
large degree recovered their fertility
Thus naturally suggested the idea
OF grassIng lands. but as the 9ras
grew thmlY and slowly upOn the lanC
when turned out, an effort was mad
to stimulate the growth by cuitiva
ton After many experiments ant
failures it WAS found that deep pillow
ing, careful preparation of the gToun'
: heavy fertilization OF the grOunt
and mixture of clover with tn
grass produce the best result IS. Wit
good crops of grass came GOOD stock
which was found to be more profts
BILE than exclusive grain raising, be
cause 1t returned to the land all th
more valuable fertilizlng material
aud did not requne so much har
labor. IL was also found that tn
blowing of grass under gave new
strength AMI fertility to the sol
no amount Of commercial fertilizer
cou d do. All bis was not foupr
CUT and accomplished in a day or
year. Il took years OF patient ex
pertinent, and there were then a
many agricultural croakers ant
doubling Vhomases IN Ohio as Their
a-e in Georgia now. Nor Is it pIa,
to raise grass in Ohio today, as
shall proceed to show.
When it is desired to put a feI,
down in grass, the ground Is deeply
broken up with Il two-horSe pillow in
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